Courtney Naquin, courtney.naquin@sierraclub.org
In a huge step towards environmental justice, President Joe Biden announced yesterday plans to appoint Dr. Earthea Nance as the new Region 6 Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Dr. Earthea Nance, a seasoned environmental champion and professor with the Department of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University (TSU), was heavily involved in aiding the city of New Orleans in recovering from Hurricane Katrina and in Houston after Hurricane Harvey. As the Region 6 administrator for the EPA, Dr. Nance will be serving Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and 66 Native Nations.
Dr. Nance’s experience in environmental justice work is expansive. She was invited to TSU by Dr. Robert Bullard, the dean of the university’s school of public affairs and colloquially known as the “father of environmental justice.” During New Orleans’ recovery from Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Nance served as a public official providing expertise in recovery, disaster mitigation, and environmental management. After Hurricane Harvey, she served on the Greater Houston Flood Mitigation Consortium and the Harris County Community Flood Resilience Task Force. Dr. Nance also worked in southern Louisiana after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill with Dr. Beverly Wright, another environmental justice champion known for her activism in Cancer Alley.
Sierra Club’s Louisiana Environmental Justice Organizer Darryl Malek-Wileyissued the following statement:
“Dr. Earthea Nance couldn’t be a better fit for the role as the EPA’s Region 6 Administrator. I’m lucky to have watched Dr. Nance’s leadership in New Orleans post-Katrina, and enthusiastically affirm that she has the right analysis and expertise to lead the region on a path to environmental justice. Her real-life experience of conducting mass relief for historically underserved communities makes me hopeful for our climate-change vulnerable region and that she will do all she can to see that fossil fuel corporations will be held accountable for their pollution and the damage they cause to our environment.”
John Beard, founder of the Port Arthur Community Action Network, said:
“I’ve had the pleasure of working alongside Dr. Nance on environmental justice committees, and her knowledge of various issues is exceptional, her commitment focused, passionate, and unwavering. We need someone like Dr. Nance to lead Region 6 because Texas - especially communities along the Texas Gulf Coast - has a lot of work to be done. It’s difficult work - it’s not easy to stand up to big serial polluting fossil corporations with a bunch of money and corrupt political power behind them. But over her career and throughout her life, Dr. Nance has proved time and again that she has the wherewithal and tenacity to bring justice to the communities she serves in Texas and Louisiana.”
Leslie Fields, National Director of Policy Advocacy and Legal for Sierra Club, said:
“Dr. Earthea Nance’s leadership in the EPA will be monumental for the states and Native territories in Region 6. For too long, environmental justice communities within these states have been burdened by fossil fuel industry presence and climate change related disasters all while seeing inadequate action from state and federal agencies. With Dr. Nance in the EPA, communities that are routinely impacted by the oil and gas and petrochemical industry will see a leader that they can trust to fight for their environment and health.”
Dave Cortez, Executive Director of the Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club, said:
“Texas is the belly of the beast for the oil and gas industry, but Texas is also home to incredibly diverse, vibrant communities. There’s a lot to defend here, but our state agencies like the Railroad Commission and Texas Commission for Environmental Quality are totally captured by fossil fuel corporate interests. Weak EPA leadership atrophied by politicians more concerned with their campaign contributors and fossil fuel interests have also had a huge impact on Texas. But under Dr. Nance’s leadership, knowing that she is experienced and interested in protecting and serving the people, and has shown up time and again for communities of color and working class folks, I believe Texas will be ripe for change.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.